Love and Marriage
by HPfanonezillion
Summary: Pregnant Katniss takes care of injured Peeta.


_Author's note: Just got to thinking about what would happen if something happened to Peeta that caused his prosthetic to bother him or get hurt somehow and this came up. Feel free to review. You can find me on Tumblr at booksrockmyface._

 _Happy reading!_

* * *

Katniss placed the kettle on the stove just as Peeta walked in. She walked to the door to greet him and noticed he looked pained. He limped slightly on his prosthetic. "You okay?" She asked, helping him take his coat off.

He shook his head. "I stumbled on a rock on my way home and my leg shifted a little." He walked into the living room and sat heavily on the couch.

She knelt in front of him and helped him roll up his pants. "I got this." She removed his prosthetic and sat it on the floor. Peeling away the sock, she saw his skin was red and he winced when she touched it. "You must have twisted it pretty bad."

"And then walked on it all the way home." He sighed and reclined on the couch. "Could you rub that cream on it?"

"You got it." She stood and rubbed absently at her stomach. "You want some tea while I'm at it? The kettle's about ready."

"Yeah, that would be nice." He lifted his hand and placed it on top of hers. "You okay?"

She nodded and wrapped her fingers around his. "I didn't sleep well last night and I tried to go hunting for a while after you left and I didn't make it very far before I got winded. And then I came home mad and Haymitch let me gripe to him for a while, but I could tell he wasn't in much of a mood to listen to pregnant ramblings. So I came home and puttered around for a while. Looked up and saw it was almost time for you to be home, so I started the kettle."

He leaned over and kissed her stomach. Then he stood and held her face gently in his hands. "I'll get the tea ready, but you have to carry it if you actually want to drink it."

She smiled and nodded. "Thank you. I'll get the cream for your leg and be right down."

He brushed a kiss over lips and then hopped into the other room.

Katniss watched him a moment. Peeta was more of a nurturer than she was most of the time. That part of her had seemed to die when Prim did. But lately, she had been more focused on taking care of Peeta than before. She cooked supper almost every night, making sure to get it on the table within an hour of his getting home from the bakery on his later days. When he got home early, he took over, especially now that her pregnancy had entered the eight month. He didn't like that she still went out hunting, but stopped fighting it after she promised not to venture too far out and not to push herself too much.

Katniss retrieved the pain cream from the bathroom and made her way into the kitchen just as Peeta started assembling the tea.

"You look so pretty." Peeta said as he took the infuser out of the cups and sat it off to the side.

She smiled. "You look handsome, but in pain."

"I may have twisted my ankle, too." He said sheepishly.

"Peeta!" She scolded. She took the kettle from him. "Get yourself back to that couch and don't move until bedtime."

"And what if I have to pee? Are you going to hold a bucket for me?"

"Please get off your foot." She begged.

He cupped her cheeks. "Look, if I end up laid up for a couple of days, you'll be fine. We'll just get Hazelle over here to take care of both of us. You know she'd gladly do it. Or send Posy."

"What about the bakery?"

"Rory can look after it a couple days. It would be okay." He turned and started hopping away, wincing every time his foot hit the floor.

"Don't be a hero, Peeta."

He sighed and dropped to his knees. He crawled into the other room. She followed with the tea tray and helped him up onto the couch once more. She handed him a cup and then went about removing his shoe. It revealed a slight swelling on his ankle.

"Does it look bad?" Peeta asked, leaning over to get a look.

Katniss sighed. "You know it's bad enough you sprained your ankle, but something is up with your prosthetic if it shifted like it did."

He shrugged. "Well, I fell pretty hard." He sipped his tea.

She took a sip of her own and then pulled the tube of pain cream out of her pocket. She put some in her hands and then started rubbing it on his ankle since it was closest. "I really don't want you to try to get up for the rest of the day. I'll make supper. And then we can talk about it in the morning how you feel and how these look." She moved over on the couch and pushed his pants back over his knee. The end of his leg looked less red, but it still looked painful. She rubbed some cream into it, messaging.

"It feels better already." Peeta rubbed her arm and then moved his hand up to cup her cheek.

Katniss turned her head and kissed palm. The baby started moving so suddenly, she let out a little gasp and then a laugh escaped her. It happened again and she placed her hand on her stomach. "I think the baby has the hiccups."

"Let me feel." He put his hand over hers. They sat silently as they felt the rhythmic movement of the baby.

Katniss rested her head against Peeta's. "You need to be more careful."

"It was a silly rock. I've walked that path so many years..."

She brushed a kiss over his lips. "Things happen. I bet you were distracted. Thinking about the baby. You were probably planning out the mural for the ten millionth time." She leaned over and picked up her tea. She moved to the other end of the couch and lifted up her feet to his lap.

Peeta chuckled and started rubbing his thumb into the bottom of Katniss's foot.

She rubbed her stomach some more. It still jumped around with the baby's hiccups, but they were slowing down.

"You sure you're okay?" He asked softly, putting his tea cup on the table so he could use both hands to rub her feet.

"I keep going back and forth, you know? The baby. I want it, I do. You know I do. But I get so scared sometimes."

"I do, too. When I get a flashback." He picked up her foot and kissed the bottom of it before he moved on to the other. "But our baby is our future. And the closer it comes, the longer it is between an episode for me."

"You still have nightmares almost every night."

"So do you."

"It's getting worse." She whispered. She swung her feet off his lap and stood.

Peeta sighed and reclined on the couch. "I love you."

"I know." Katniss gathered their tea cups and walked into the kitchen.

"Am I still supposed to stay here?" He called after her.

"You will if you know what's good for you." She called back.

He looked over to see a smirk on her face. He smiled back and rested his head on the arm of the couch.

"I love you, too." She said. "By the way."


End file.
